In fairness, it doesn't always make a ton of sense to telegraph how much you are committing. The GOP is going to have to wait and see how much air-time gets reserved, or deduce how much GOTV money is funneling in. The hope is that you can either get them to over or under commit resources to the state. At the same time, the announcement t…
In fairness, it doesn't always make a ton of sense to telegraph how much you are committing. The GOP is going to have to wait and see how much air-time gets reserved, or deduce how much GOTV money is funneling in. The hope is that you can either get them to over or under commit resources to the state. At the same time, the announcement that any money is flowing in from national sources at all is usually a fundraising boos for the statewide candidate. It also boosts morale for Dems in the state. You can get a small bump without doing much of anything (and it can also pay for some more internal polls and focus grouping to get a better picture of what is happening on the ground in a race that hasn't been widely polled.) You can put in a "multi-million dollar" investment, and then step it up when you see the next set of polls. You don't need to tell the other team in advance how much you are committing. It can be a feint or a head-fake.
In fairness, it doesn't always make a ton of sense to telegraph how much you are committing. The GOP is going to have to wait and see how much air-time gets reserved, or deduce how much GOTV money is funneling in. The hope is that you can either get them to over or under commit resources to the state. At the same time, the announcement that any money is flowing in from national sources at all is usually a fundraising boos for the statewide candidate. It also boosts morale for Dems in the state. You can get a small bump without doing much of anything (and it can also pay for some more internal polls and focus grouping to get a better picture of what is happening on the ground in a race that hasn't been widely polled.) You can put in a "multi-million dollar" investment, and then step it up when you see the next set of polls. You don't need to tell the other team in advance how much you are committing. It can be a feint or a head-fake.